The use of solar power has become quite common as a means to provide power for man-made structures to include both residential and commercial buildings. With the increased cost of energy from traditional sources such as fossil fuels, coupled with a transition in industry towards eco-friendly or “green” technologies, building architectures and designs continue to evolve to incorporate solar power systems.
Solar panel arrays are often installed on existing buildings. In most cases, the solar panels are mounted on the roof of the building, and therefore are limited in terms of the amount of solar panels that can be used to produce power. When land is available, an increased number of solar panel arrays can be situated at a location adjacent the building(s) to be powered, however increasing solar panels in this manner is not a viable solution for powering buildings within most cities.
In extreme climate conditions such as desert or arctic environments, solar power can be a useful means of power generation for a building; however, other traditional power sources typically have to be included to supplement shortcomings with the solar power supply. For example, it is rare that a solar panel array in a larger building located in a desert climate will be capable of powering high energy consumption cooling systems, such as the building's HVAC systems. Similarly, in colder climates, while solar panels may provide enough power for electrical lighting, it is uncommon for solar panels to be able to produce enough energy to effectively heat the building.
There are a great number of patents that disclose solar panel systems to include those that are incorporated on buildings. One example is found in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,381. This reference discloses a building including a high efficiency transparent insulation and optical shutter solar collector to effectively control heat loss and gain in a passive solar climate control system. This invention also includes a layer of protective glazing, a transparent insulation, an optical shutter, an optional solar radiation absorbing material, and an optional heat storage element. When the building and its heat storage are too warm, the optical shutter layer becomes opaque to prevent overheating. During cloudy and cold days, the system still has a solar transmission and insulation efficiency great enough to collect sufficient sunlight for heating.
Although there are a number of existing systems for providing power, cooling, heating and ventilating for a building structure, there is still a need to provide a building which can more efficiently incorporate these systems in a very functional, but yet aesthetically pleasing design. There is also a need to increase the surface area available for mounting of solar panels without requiring adjacent land for a separate solar power generation area.
There is also a need for a building to have the capability to react to changing weather conditions to include sun angles and daily temperature shifts. There is also a need to provide passive cooling and heating to regulate the temperature of the building, and this passive system being independently controlled as compared to the power generation system of the building. Further, there is a need to provide a building in which a significant greenhouse space or area is available for growing vegetation that not only enhances the interior décor of the building, but also can be a space large enough to accommodate other plant uses such as fruits and vegetables that can be consumed by the inhabitants of the building.
There is also a need to integrate natural systems in the design of a building that can create a more pleasant livable place. It has been shown that incorporating elements from nature has many benefits to include enhancing productivity, reducing the number of sick days in the workplace, promoting learning in schools, and shortening recovery times in hospitals.
Finally, there is a need to incorporate other natural systems in a building to create a building that is more sustainable in terms of not having to rely upon traditional utilities, these other natural systems including the collection of rainwater and recycling of the collected water for re-use within the building.